Autumn Statement: Osborne marches ever further into Labour territory

On days like today it can be easy to forget 9 parties sit in opposition to the Conservatives. The Tories are storming ahead in the polls with an average lead of around 7 per cent, but reaching as high as 15 per cent.

You would think that policies such as tax credit cuts, deeply unpopular with the public, would have been seized upon by the Labour Party to start making inroads into this deficit. It could have been the chance for Corbyn to show he is in touch with a public mood that, although still sympathetic to austerity measures, is turned off by cuts that will impact upon “strivers.” It has been clear since the Government was defeated in the House of Lords that Osborne did not have the drive to push through the tax credit cuts in their original form.

This presented Corbyn with a golden opportunity to damage the Government's credibility as a worker's party. Corbyn could and should have disciplined his Cabinet to convey a unified message of opposition against the tax credit cuts. Instead, on the day of Osborne’s U-turn, the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell responded to the Autumn Statement by quoting Chairman Mao. That might be bad, but arguably worse were the weeks preceding. Labour dominated the news - but it was because of their misplaced indulgence of their left flank in ruling out shoot-to-kill in the event of a terrorist attack... after a major terrorist attack under 2 hours away from London.

Subsequently, it was more or less plain sailing for Osborne. The change in heart on tax credits was washed over as simply a decision taken in response to better than expected borrowing figures, with the total coming in at £8bn less than anticipated. Alongside this, today showed Osborne has won his own internal battles, ensuring no awkward scenes. There was certainly no fist pump from Iain Duncan Smith this time around, but today's announcement on departmental budgets confirmed a compromise had been made between the quarrelling pair.

The cut of 14 per cent for IDS’s Department for Work and Pensions ensured the Conservatives could maintain party unity in contrast to the horror story of Labour. Simultaneously, the cuts to spending ensured the important continuation of a message of fiscal discipline. The surplus is still on track for £10bn in 2020.

Of course, there was the important news on economic growth that has been the keystone of this Conservative Party's political success. Growth is predicted to maintain steady at over 2 per cent per year for the immediate future. Nonetheless, for the bold statesman that is Osborne, economic competency is not enough. Certainly, it is a necessary foundation. But Cameron, Osborne and the Cabinet want to go further. They seek a fundamental transformation of the Conservative Party towards the centre ground. Some of the announcements today were testament to this: Extra money for councils to help with homelessness, further injections of funds for social care and a 3 per cent tax rise on second homes and buy-to-let properties could well be described as policies taken from Labour's turf.

But the Conservatives are on the hunt for new voters. They are on the move into territory where the red flag of Labour has flown for many years. The Centre. Be wary of shoot to kill Mr Corbyn, Osborne has you (and your party) in his sights.